Ventilating apparatus



y 1950 c. J. ROTHER ETAL 2,516,805

VENTILATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 1, 1946 INVENTORS Car/ J. ZOHYGF George IV Larson 3% 0m TTORNEY Patented July 25, 1950 VENTILATING APPARATUS Carl J. Bother and George W. Larson, San Diego,

Calif., assignors to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, San Diego, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application November 1, 1946, Serial No. 707,104

4 Claims.

wherein the sound produced by airflow through the outlet is minimal.

A further object is the providing of an improved ventilator outlet adapted for use in a vehicle, such as an airplane, which is readily operable by the individual passenger to control the volume of ventilating air flowing through the outlet and the direction of airflow.

A still further object lies in providing an improved ventilator outlet having a simplicity of design, in which the various members effectively cooperate to produce the desired result, and which is economical of construction.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specification and appended drawings wherein is illustrated a preferred form of the invention, and in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic transverse section of a passenger cabin of an aircraft employing ventilator outlets embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the airplane cabin and showing the ventilator outlets;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of a ventilator outlet according to the present invention; and

Figure dis a top plan view of the ventilator outlet.

The drawings illustrate the use of the present invention in a; vehicle which for the sake of illustration is here understood to be an aircraft. Having reference particularly to Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a portion of an aircraft cabin passenger compartment indicated generally by the numeral ii! and shown here as comprising arcuate walls II and I2, although the walls may assume other shapes. Forming the rear wall of the cabin compartment I is a bulkhead Ha having a centrally located doorway l3 provided therein for ingress to this compartment. Disposed in the passenger compartment II) are a plurality of seats arranged transversely of the cabin and in double rows Hi and 55, one row It consisting of a pair of seats 15 and ll, and the other row It comprising the seats l8 and i9, and with the rows vbeing separated by acentral aisle which is in line with the doorway l3. Extending over the rows 2 of seats I and I5 are shelf-like members 2| and 22 which may serve ior'stowage of minor'baggage.

Located adjacent the points where the shelflike members 2! and 22 are joined to the arcuate walls i l and i2 and arranged in pairs are ventilator outlet units 23. vThe ventilator outlet units 23 are disposed in air receiving positions in longitudinally extending troughs or ventilating passages 24 which run the length of the cabin. Connected to each trough 24 is an air supply duct 25 which leads from the source of ventilating air. The source of ventilating air and the connecting ducts between this source and the air supply ducts 25 are not shown as their particular construction or arrangement is not a part of this invention. The air supplyductszfi are formed into each of the arcuate walls H and I2 and, as shown, are of the same general conformation as the walls.

A ventilator outlet unit 23, as best illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, comprises a main body portion or housing 26. The housing 26 embodies a substantially spherical or ball portion 2'! having integral therewith and extending therefrom a substantially truncated cone shaped or flared portion 28. The housing 26 is formed of a plastic material for ease of construction and lightness of weight, but the particular materialof which the housing is made forms no part of the present invention and any suitable material such as aluminum, magnesium, steel or the like, may be utilized. The housing 26 is open from top to bottom, the opening comprising a passage 3! extending through the ball portion 21 and which opens into and communicates with an inlet chamber 32 defined by the diverging inner wall surface 33 of the flared portion 28.

Disposed within the bore 3| and extending substantially the length thereof is a metallic tube or liner member 34 which is held in place as by a press fit or in any other appropriate manner. Mounted for axial-movement within bore 3! and fitting within the liner member 34 and adapted to slide thereon is an elongated cylindrical plunger or tubular member 35. The tubular member 35 is provided within an enlarged cylindrical portion 35 at one end which is adapted to be grasped readily to effect rectilinear movement of the tubular member 35 within passage 3! and to swing the housing 26, as will be hereinafter further described, to direct air to a desired position on a passenger seat. In the outer wall surface tl of plunger 35, and at a point spaced from the upper end thereof, there is formed a peripheral groove, Within which groove is fitted a sealing ring 38 to prevent the leakage of air between the plunger or tubular member 35 and the liner member 34. I

Substantially midway on the outer wall surface 31 of tubular member 35 there is located a recess 39 into which extends the end of a stop screw 4| after it has passed through an opening in the liner member 34. This screw end is adapted to engage with the vertically spaced upper and lower defining wall surfaces of recess 39 on telescoping movement of the tubular member 35 to thereby limit the amount of inward and outward movement that may be provided the tubular member 35.

The stop screw 4| is disposed for movement within an internally threaded bore 42 which extends through wall 43 of the ball portion 21, the bore #32 being directed at right angles to and opening into the main passage 3| located in ball.

portion 2?. In the opposite wall 44 of ball portion 27 and extending therethrough and also at right angles to and opening into main passage 3| is another bore 45- a portion of which is in-- ternally threaded. Bore 45 is in substantial alignment with bore 42. Located within bore 45 is a ball 45 and a spring 41 with one end of spring 41 bearing upon the ball 46. A stud 49 is adapted to thread into the outer end of bore 45 and engage the other end of spring 4'! to provide a compressive force upon spring 4i upon movement of the stud 48 inwardly to urge the ball 45 to the opposite end of bore 45 and toward the main passage 3|. The amount of spring force acting upon ball 46 can be varied by movement of the stud 49.

Aligned with the inner opening of bore 45 is an opening in liner member 34' through which the ball 46 is adapted to move to contact the outer Wall surface 3! of tubular member 35. On the outer wall surface 3'! of tubular member 35' in the area adjacent the bore 45 there is provided a vertically spaced series of depressions or recesses 58 into each of which the spring pressed ball id is adapted to extend or fit as each depression. or notch 43 is aligned with the inner opening of bore 45 onaxial movement of tubular member 35 within bore 3| of housing 26. The spring pressed ball 48, therefore, cooperating with the series of depressions 48 on the wall 4*? of tubular member 35. effects an indexing means for the tubular member 35 whereby the tubular member 35 is adjustably supported and maybe positively located within ball portion 2'! in a variety of positions.

The cylindrical plunger or core member 35 has a bore or passage which extends the length thereof andwhich terminates in an inlet 52 and an outlet53. both of which are made to flare outwardly. Into the inlet end 52' of passage 5| of the cylinder 35 extends a substantially conical shaped member or needle 54 having the vertex thereof directed in the direction. of the length of cylinder 35. In the uppermost position of cylinder 35 the. converging walls of. cone 54 are engaged by the end of the cylinder 35 to completely close passage 5|. Mounted in an annular groove provided near the upper end of passage 5:1 is a resilient sealing ring 55" which is adapted to fit tightly against the cone 54 when it is in closed position to prevent leakage of air into passage 5!. As the cylinder 35 is moved in a direction away from the conical member 54 air can pass ther around and into passage 5|. Thus volume control is effected by the push-pull adjustment of plunger for movement of this plunger relative to conical member 54', it is seen, will vary the size of'the aperture through which the air enters. The greater the distance the plunger 35 is spaced from the conical member 54 the greater the amount of air that can flow into and through the passage 5|. The cylinder or plunger cooperating with the conical member 54 thereby provides an efiective control of theamount of air that can pass through bore 5| and into the cabin compartment.

As has been stated the upper end 52 of bore 5! is flared, this effects an annular inlet orifice into which the conical member 54 serving as a direc tional means efficiently directs air. It has been found that the cone 54, by virtue of its shape and location relative to the passage 5|, greatly reduces air turbulence whereby the flow of air directed by it into the passage 5| will be smooth and uniform. Reducing turbulence and efiecting a smooth and uniform air flow has the tendency to keep the noise produced by the air stream passing into the bore 5i at a minimum.

It is to be further noted'that the conical member 54 disposed in the inlet of bore 51 effects a Venturi passage whereb air passing through the Venturi' throat is provided with a greater velocity permitting it to be directed more effectively upon a passenger.

The conical member 54 is supported in proper position relative to cylinder 35 by a ring member 5'? which is mounted upon the outer end of the fiared portion 28 of housing 25. The ring 5-1 may be secured in position on housing 26 by any suitable adhesive or in any other well known manner; A plurality of rib members 58 extend inwardly from the rim 59 of the ring 5'! and are directed toward the center thereof and there are joined to the conical member 54. The ring 5'? together with its" ribs 58 and the conical member 55 may be formed integrally and out of a suitable plastic, as has been done here, or the conical member 54 may be formed separately and later joined to the ring 51. The manner of con"- struction is not a part of this invention.

Forming the ribs 58 of plastic provides them with a slight inherent resiliency whereby the conical member 54 may have a slight movement that it will end to center itself within passage when cylinder 35 has been forced into engagement with it and this self-centering characteristic will thereby tend to effect a positive seal.

As shown in the drawings, the housing 26 ofthe ventilator unit 23 extends into and through an annular aperture 5|! provided in the floor 64 of the trough 24. To support the housing 26 on the trough 24- there is provided a socket member 6|. The socket member 5! comprises an annular ring portion 5-2 having an outwardly extending'peripheral flange 63 whichis welded, or otherwise secured, to the floor 54* of the trough 24 to rigidly mount the-socket member 6| in position. Extending upwardly from the ring portion 62 and contigrous to ball portion 2'! is a generally arouate wall portion of a conformation similar to that of the ball portion 2'! of the housing 26. A second generally arcuate wall portion 56, but of substantially less height than wall portion to which it is connected, is disposed on the opposite side of the ball portion 2'! and in engagement therewith. The arcuate wall portions 65 and 5'5 provide a seat for the ball portion 2'! whereby the housing 26 will be mounted for universal movement to provide an effective directional control of the air stream by the passenger.

This support provided by the socket member 6| permits the housing 26 to be pivotally or swingingly moved and to be rotated about its own axis as desired.

- One ventilator efl'iciently service one passenger seat. With the seats in the cabin passenger compartment shown "Thedefining upper edge t! of wall portion 65 and the defining upper edge 68 of wall portion :56" are engageable by the outer surface of housing 26 and serve to limit the amount of pivotal or swinging movement to be had by the housing 26 and thereby define the angle of diifusion of airwithin the cabin compartment.

about the outer wall of ball portion 2'! and into the cabin compartment. .The trough 24 is .pro-

'vided with an annular flange H about the aperture 60 which cooperates with the ring portion 62 of socket member 6| to mount the felt position.

seal in To operate the ventilator outlet unit 23 a passenger need only grasp the outer end of the plunger 35 and swing the housing 26 in the has been explained, will efiect a flow of air ,through the passage 5| thereof. The volume of air flowing therethrough, it is obvious, is con- .trolled by the. distance the tubular member 35 is extended out of its housing 26.

H v The indexing means furnished by the spring pressed balll' ifi and the recesses 48 permits the positive locating .of the tubular member 35 when-the passenger has adjusted this member to a position. at which the amount of air flowing is desired by the passenger.

outlet device 23 is adapted to being arranged in pairs there will be a pair-20f ventilator outlet devices required. As has-been stated above the angle of diffusion of air emit- -ting from a ventilator outlet device is determined by the arcuate wall portions 65 and 66 provided by the socket member El. An angle is a chosen which will most efficiently serve a par- ?ticular passenger seat.

units 23. It is noted that the arcuate wall portions 65 and 66 of the respective socket members embodied by this pair of ventilator outlet units 23 are disposed reversed to one another.

It has been found that a ventilator outlet device 23 having aconverging entrance or inlet32 to housing 26 as here provided, a conical air directing member 54, and a flared inlet to the passage 5| in the tubular member 35 effects a smooth and uniform flow of air'and results in a minimum' of'noi'se being produced by the flow of airfrom the air supply duct 25 through a ventilator outlet unit 23 and into the passenger cabin compartment. It has been found that such noise as may be produced byanopenveritilatoroutlt de- 5 vice 23 is' audible, above the airplane noise,"only to'- Attention is directed to Figure 2 wherein is shown two ventilator outlet the person occupying a position directly in the airs'tream.

Ventilator outlet units in common use have a tendency to produce a great deal of noise. in both their open and closed positions. The noise The ventilator outlet unit 23 of the present invention has the advantage that it does not produce any such annoying sounds. 'An outlet unit '23 embodying the construction described hereinbefore is effectively sealed to the passage of leaking air. The conical member 54 and its tubular member '35 cooperate efficiently to effect a positive closure'of main'pass age El and there is no inadvertent passing of ventilating air. By preventing air leakagethe outlet unit 23 prevents the production of undesirable sounds when theunit is in closed position.

Another feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the stewardess or attendant can determine which of the various ventilator outlet units in the cabin have been left open by a passenger when the airplanehas discharged its passengers for only those units are open which have the plunger or tubular element 35 thereof in extended position. .There is-no necessity for her to'examine and handle each individual unit to determine if it is open, as is required by outlets now in use; in the present instance, by a glance, she determines which of the outlets in a cabin are open and pushes those particular plungers that are extended into their respective housings and prepares that ventilator outlet unit for use by the next occupant of the seat.

While-certain preferred embodiments of'the invention havebeen specifically disclosed, it is understood that i the invention is not limited thereto as many variati-onswill be readily apparent to those ski led in the art and the invention is to be given its broadest possible interpretationwithin the terms of the following claims.

We claim: 1. A. ventilating outlet device comprising a housing having a bore extending therethrougih for the passage of air, a regulating means carried by said housing foracontrolling the volume of air passing through 4 said housing, said re ulating .means comprising -a tubular member having in- 50 said tubular member for adjustable movement in let and outlet openings, indexing means mounting the bore of said housing, a generally conical shaped air directing member, mounting means carried by said housing above the inlet opening of the tubular member comprising flexible rib members supported at oneof their ends by the housing and extendinginwardlyto connect at their opposite ends with the generally conical shaped member, adjustab ly support said generally conical shaped member with the. vertex thereof pointing inwardly into the housing bore and adapted to project through the inlet opening of said tubular member, said tubular member having a portion thereof disposed exteriorly of said housing by means of which it'may be moved inwardly and outwardly of said housing to enable the interiorly located portion of said tubular member to en- 2.. A ventilating-- outlet device comprising a housing having a bore extending therethrough for the passage of air, a regulating means carried by said housing: for controlling the volumeof air cmember, mounting meanscarried by said housing above the inlet opening of the tubular member having flexible rib-portions which adjustably support said generally conical shaped member with the vertex thereof pointing inwardly into the housing bore and adapted to project through the inlet opening of said tubular member, said tu-bular member having a portion thereof disposed earteriorly of said housing by meansof which it may be moved inwardly and outwardly of said housing to enable the interiorly located portion of said tubular member to encompass varying portions of said generally conical shaped member along the length thereof to vary the size of said tubular member inlet opening, and to move the sealing ring carried at the interior end of said tubular member into and out of sealing engagement with the lateral surfaces of said generally conical shaped member to close and open said tubular member inlet opening.

3. A ventilating outlet device-for a vehicle comprising a housing having a bore extending therethrough for the passage of air, said housing embodying a substantially spherical portion, means for pivotally supporting said housing in said vehicle, said supporting means comprising a socket element within which said substantially spherical portion of said housing is adapted to seat, said socket element embodying a pair of oppositely disposed arcuate wall portions of different heights disposed in contiguous and embracing relation to said substantially spherical portion of said housing and which wall portions of difierent heights are engageable at an edge of each todetermine the extent of pivotal movement ofsaid housing, an air regulating means carried by said housing for controlling the volume of air passing through said housing, said air regulating means comprising. a tubular member having inlet and. outlet penings,. means mounting said tubular member for slidable movement in the bore ofsaid housing, a. generally conical shaped air directing member, mounting means carried by said housing above the inlet opening oi the tubular member for supporting said generally conical shaped member with the vertex thereof pointing inwardly into the housing bore and adapted to project through the inlet opening of said tubular member, said tubularv member having a portion thereof disposed ,exteriorly of said housing whereby said. housing, may be pivotally moved upon its support. and by means of which the tubular member maybe moved inwardlyand outwardly of said housing to enable the interiorly located portion of said tubular member to encompass varying portions of said,

generally conical shaped member along the length thereof to vary the. size of said tubular member inlet opening, and to move the opposite end of said tubular member into and out of enga ement with the lateral surfaces of. said,

generally conical shaped member to close and open said tubular member inletv opening. I

4.. A ventilating outlet device for a. vehicle comprising a housing. embodying, a substantially spherical portion, and an integral. flared portion formed. by diverging wall surfaces extending from said generally spherical portion, said generally spherical portion having a, bore therethrough in communicating. relation witha chamber defined by said diverging wallsurfaces. where.- by air may be passed. through said housing, means for pivotally supporting said housing in. said vehicle, said supporting means comprising a socket. member embodying a pair of oppositely located generally arcuate wall portions. which are disposed in contiguous and embracing, relation to said substantially spherical portion of said. housing to provide a seat therefor, said, pair of oppositely located generally arcuate wall portions being of different heights and having. defining edges engageable by said housing to serve as stops to determine the extent of pivotal movement of said housing, an air regulating means carried by said housing for controlling the volume of airpassing through said housing, said air regulating means comprising a movable tubular member having inlet and outlet openings, indexing means adjustably mounting said tubular member in the bore of said housing, said tubular member having an annular groove provided in its interior wall surface adjacent its upper end, a resilient sealing ring disposed in said annular groove, a generally conical shaped air directing member, mounting means carried by said diverging wall surfaces of said housing havingflexible rib portions which adjustably support said generally conical shaped member with the vertex thereof pointed inwardly and toward said tubular member, and adapted to project through the inlet opening of said tubular member, said tubular member having a portion thereof disposed exteriorly of said housing whereby the tubular member may be moved inwardly and outwardly of said housing to a variety of positions relative to said generall conical shaped member to vary the size of said tubular member inlet opening, and to carry said resilient sealing ring into and out of engagement with the lateral surfaces of said generally conical shaped member to close and open said inlet opening of said tubular member, said exteriorly disposed portion of said tubular member providing a means for pivotallymoving said housing upon its support.

CARL J. ROTl-IER. GEORGE W. LARSON,

REFERENCES CITED The, following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,569,667 Neilson Jan. 12, 1926 1,921,457 Dickinson Aug. 8,. 1933 2,189,502 Johnston Feb. 6, 1940 2,372,830 Honerkamp et al. Apr. 3, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS:

Number Country Date 16,654 Great Britain 1909 351,050 Great Britain June 22, 1931 360,727 Great Britain Nov. 12, 1931 501,926 Great. Britain Mar. 8, 19:39 520,452 Great Britain Apr, 24,. 1940 571,761, Great: Britain Sept. 7, 1945 6623608 Germany 1.1,. 19 38 

